Prosecutors say gang members 'terrorized' Newburgh

NEW YORK— Federal prosecutors say the Bloods gang in Newburgh existed solely to attack and terrorize people in the city.

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By DOYLE MURPHY

recordonline.com

By DOYLE MURPHY

Posted Feb. 7, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By DOYLE MURPHY
Posted Feb. 7, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

NEW YORK— Federal prosecutors say the Bloods gang in Newburgh existed solely to attack and terrorize people in the city.

Prosecutors described a frightening campaign of murder, drug dealing and intimidation on Wednesday in the opening statements of the trial of the gang's alleged leader, Anthony "Double O" Boykin Jr., and Justin "Justo" Simmons, who a prosecutor said was a "foot soldier" in the organization.

Boykin, a muscular 30-year-old, ordered or authorized his underlings to attack people who crossed the gang or who pretended they were Bloods, prosecutors said. They claim he killed a marijuana dealer named Lamont "City" Young himself in 2009, luring Young to an illegal pool hall where he shot him in the face. Boykin and others suspected Young was a snitch, a prosecutor said.

Simmons was also violent, according to prosecutors. He punched another Newburgh man, Tyrik Legette, in the face before a mob of Bloods members joined in, eventually stabbing Legette to death in 2009 on Lander Street, a prosecutor said. Boykin is accused of authorizing the attack.

"This is a case about a violent gang that has terrorized a city, leaving bullets, blood stains and crack cocaine in its wake," Assistant U.S. Attorney Emil Bove said.

Defense Attorney Lisa Scolari said prosecutors have no solid evidence linking Boykin to their accusations of murder and attacks, relying instead on testimony of criminals who have spent a lifetime lying.

She concedes Boykin was a Blood — he has large tattoo on his chest representing the gang's Bounty Hunter Bloods subset — but the idea that there was a unified organization known as the Newburgh Bloods is an invention of the prosecutors. Boykin was only a tough guy, respected by younger men in the city.

Simmons' attorney, Marlon Kirton, also attacked the cooperators who are expected to testify. Government witnesses will take known events, such as Simmons' 2008 gun arrest, and try to spin them into the larger context of a criminal enterprise.

"This case is not about evidence," Kirton said. "It is about credible evidence."

Judge Colleen McMahon rattled prosecutors at the end of the day when she ruled they had erred in not listing enough details about a handful of events, including a shooting. McMahon's ruling could keep prosecutors from calling a series of law enforcement officers expected to talk about those incidents. She warned they better have other witnesses ready to fill the time.